'Please stop sending flowers, my wife has hay fever!' Sadiq Khan jokes with supporters as he takes Tube to new job

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Sadiq Khan joked that well-wishers' flowers were making his wife's hay-fever worse as he made his way to City Hall for his first working day.

London's new mayor was mobbed by supporters as he took the bus and Tube to his new workplace this morning.

It marked a departure from his predecessor Boris Johnson, who took a private car to his first day of work at City Hall - despite later becoming famous for cycling into the office.

Supporters flocked to greet Mr Khan, the son of a London bus driver, as he travelled to work on the TfL network today.

The mayor said he was "blessed" by the support, but begged people to stop sending him gifts.

Sadiq Khan, the son of a bus driver, hops on a double decker on his way to work 
Jack Taylor/Getty Images

As he travelled on the Tube he told well-wishers: "Please stop sending flowers, my wife has hay fever!"

More crowds were waiting for Mr Khan outside City Hall - some bearing gifts including baked breakfast goods - to welcome the self-declared "Mayor for all Londoners" as he began his first day in the new job.

Mr Khan beat rival Zac Goldsmith to the post in Thursday's election, when he won 1,310,143 votes to the Conservative MP’s 994,614.

He has announced that he plans to step down from his current role as Tooting MP to focus on his new mayoral position.

Speaking on Saturday, after the election results had been declared, he said: “I’m determined to lead the most transparent, engaged and accessible administration London has ever seen, and to represent every single community, and every single part of our city. A Mayor for all Londoners,”

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